Dolphin Tale 3
by gracerush20
Summary: Sawyer is returning from his three months away expecting a happy reunion between him and his friends. But soon problems arise around every corner. He has to fight to make everything right. What will happen?


**A/N: HEY ANYBODY OUT IN THAT GIGANTIC WORLD WHO MIGHT POSSIBLY BE READING THIS STORY! I'm new to this whole writing thing so please go easy on me but I would love any feedback (and any follows or favorites). Well I guess I should let you read now!**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Dolphin Tale or the characters.**_

**Chapter 1**

**Sawyer**

"So are you excited to see Winter and Hope?" my mom said from the driver's seat of our van. She had just picked up Kyle and I from the airport after our three month SEA Semester.

I didn't really know how to answer her question because I didn't really know the answer myself. I mean, of course I missed them and was excited to see them but I was more afraid. What if Winter doesn't remember me? What if she doesn't care about me as much as she did before? I have been gone for really long.

Of course, I didn't tell my mom any of this. I simply replied by saying, "Yeah."

"I'll tell you what," mom replied. "Why don't we meet AUnt Alyce and Uncle Max at you favorite restaurant."

"Cheeseburger in Paradise?!" I screamed practically jumping out of my seat. "Sorry. I'm really hungry."

Kyle laughed. "Yeah. We can tell bud."

"We can celebrate you birthday that I had missed."

I had completely forgotten. I had turned 16 about a month ago while I was in Boston. Honestly, I was so immersed in the learning that I kind of forgot on the day of. None of my friends there even knew about it.

"That would be awesome," I told her.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

We pulled into our driveway and never had I been so excited to sleep in my own bed before. I had basically spent almost 3 months straight on a boat. Sleeping on it was probably the worst part of my trip. Even though I could hear the sound of the sea, I had to sleep on a really uncomfortable cot. Complaining was not an option though. I was too grateful for the chance to even be sleeping at sea.

Walking into my room, I threw suitcase onto the floor and climbed under the covers, not even bothering to take off my clothes or unpack my suitcase.

Even though I was extremely tired, I couldn't fall asleep for hours. I guess I had gotten so used to the sounds I heard while on the boat that it was hard to sleep without them. There was also a lot of thoughts going through my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about what would happen when I reunited with everyone at the aquarium, especially Hazel.

I had texted Hazel for the first month of my trip non-stop. Then the texts started slowing down from her end and it got hard for me to find time to communicate with anyone at home due to everything that was going on. I hadn't even talked to her in over a month. For all I know, she could be dead.

It kind of hurt when she stopped texting. She's my best and only friend and I was kind of lonely. But because I had no one to talk to, I actually started being social with the other students on the trip. I actually made some amazing friends.

There was a friend there, Lena, who is probably one of the smartest girls I have ever met. She taught me almost everything I learned while I was there. She's 16 but so brilliant at everything that she is already a sophomore in college. Her home is in California, but she promised that she would write me as often as she can because she doesn't have a phone.

The fact that I actually made any friends at all really surprised me. It even surprised my mom. Of, course she didn't say that. She just seemed really shocked when I showed her a picture of Lena, Finn, Matt, Sarah, and I.

Finn, Matt, and Sarah were the other friends I made there. They were all 19 years old studying marine biology. Finn and Matt acted like my older brother while Sarah thought I was the most adorable thing. She said she saw Winter and I on the news and wanted to meet both of us ever since she heard the story. I made her promise to come out to Florida and play with Winter.

_Winter._

It's not possible to explain how worried I was about seeing her tomorrow. I don't get why though. Besides Hazel, she was my best friend. I guess I was afraid that something drastic might have happened while I was away, good or bad. I'll just have to see for myself tomorrow. I'll just have to stop thinking about it.

Putting that thought out of my mind, I started falling asleep, forgetting to set an alarm clock for tomorrow. Because of that, I didn't wake up until one the next day. I haven't slept in for a while.

Walking out of my room in my boxer shorts and t-shirt, I rubbed my eyes, still tired somehow. My mom was sitting at the kitchen table reading a book.

"Can you make me some pancakes?" I asked her.

"Honey, it's one. That's more of a lunch time of the day. But whatever you want."

About an hour later and six pancakes in my stomach, my mom and I were on our way to the aquarium with butterflies in my stomach.

As we pulled into the parking lot, my mom asked, "Would you like me to come in with you?"

"No. I think I'm good," I said stepping out of the car. "Bye, Mom."

I walked around to the back end where the employee entrance is. Pausing with my hand on the doorknob, I took a deep breath, preparing myself for the reunion to come.

"I'm ready," I whispered to myself then pulled open the door and walked in.

Phoebe, Rebecca, and Virginia were the first people to notice I was back. I gave them all hugs and promised I would tell them all about my semester at sea as soon as I see Hazel and Winter.

Running up the stairs to the dolphin deck, I ran into Susie, a volunteer, and gave her a hug. We talked for a few minutes about some new animals they rescued. While I was gone, they rescued a shark and two snapping turtles. I told her I'd make sure to catch up with her later but I wanted to see Winter and Dr. Clay.

"And Hazel?" she asked with a weird tone in her voice that I didn't quite understand.

"Ummm, yeah," I said skeptically, "I gotta go."

I ran up the remaining stairs and stopped at Dr. Clay's office to see if he was in there, but he wasn't. Maybe he was with Hope and Winter.

I decided to walk to the pool because I was starting to get really out of breath from all the running.

Coming up on their pool, I could hear Hazel's voice and a voice I didn't really recognise. When the pool came into view, I could see Hazel swimming with the dolphins and a boy I didn't know. They were holding onto the two dolphins dorsal fins. When they crossed paths, they both let go and ended up face to face about six inches.

I didn't wait around to watch the rest. It looked like a pretty intimate moment that I shouldn't be watching and that I didn't want to be watching.

I ran all the way downstairs and out the front door. I slowed down after about a quarter mile before I slowed down to a walk.

_Who was that?_

Was he knew volunteer, because volunteers don't usually swim with the dolphins? Or almost kiss the daughter of the owner. For all I know they could have kissed.

Why do I feel so jealous? He was also holding onto Winter's fin and that made me mad too.

Why did I leave? I shouldn't have let that new dude get in the way of my reunion with everyone. And now that I saw Winter, I wasn't afraid anymore. I just wanted see her and swim with her and hear her tweetie-bird. Yet I didn't turn around. I just kept walking toward home.

Something is seriously wrong with me.

By the time I got home, it was three o'clock and my mom had left to go grocery shopping.

I grabbed my journal off of my nightstand and went to my work-room.

My journal wasn't something where I wrote about my feelings or how my day went. I mostly draw in it. My most recent drawing was of a 98 year old sea turtle named Otis. He was one of the animals that I observed while in Boston. His drawing was surrounded by barely legible scribble. It explained almost everything I had learned about him and his species. I had about a hundred other drawing exactly like it but with different animals.

Sometimes when I'm bored or when I need to calm down, I like to read my notes and memorize what I can of them. I'm hoping that someday, when somebody asks me about any marine animal out there, I'll be able to tell them everything about that animal.

That's what it's like with Winter. If you ask me anything about her, I would probably not stop talking for hours. That's how much I cared about her.

At that moment, I realized that I didn't have a page about Winter in my journal. So I opened it up to the first blank page and drew two pictures of her: one with the prosthetic and one without. And then I sat there for hours filling up more than just one page of information about her. Writing it all down made me miss her so much and how she loved her duck toy and always made the tweetie-bird sound whenever I was around. Because of this, I realized how stupid I had been leaving the aquarium just because I saw Hazel with some guy.

I wanted to see Winter.

Correction: I needed to see Winter.

So that's what I was going to do.


End file.
